diff --git a/LoopStructural/__init__.py b/LoopStructural/__init__.py
index 5ef8264b6..9d464108f 100644
--- a/LoopStructural/__init__.py
+++ b/LoopStructural/__init__.py
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@
 from logging.config import dictConfig
 import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
+from .version import __version__
 ch = logging.StreamHandler()
 formatter = logging.Formatter('%(asctime)s ~ %(name)-12s ~ %(levelname)-10s ~ %(message)s')
 ch.setFormatter(formatter)
 ch.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 loggers = {}
-__version__ = '1.2.2'
 from .modelling.core.geological_model import GeologicalModel
 from .utils import log_to_console, log_to_file, getLogger
 logger = getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/LoopStructural/version.py b/LoopStructural/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..079d34f09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LoopStructural/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+__version__ = '1.2.2'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..33482f439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[metadata]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 178f53b6b..d8a8ed399 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -22,19 +22,13 @@
 		 
 import numpy
 import os
-import codecs
-def read(rel_path):
-    here = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
-    with codecs.open(os.path.join(here, rel_path), 'r') as fp:
-        return fp.read()
 
-def get_version(rel_path):
-    for line in read(rel_path).splitlines():
-        if line.startswith('__version__'):
-            delim = '"' if '"' in line else "'"
-            return line.split(delim)[1]
-    else:
-        raise RuntimeError("Unable to find version string.")
+package_root = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+
+version = {}
+with open(os.path.join(package_root, "LoopStructural/version.py")) as fp:
+    exec(fp.read(), version)
+version = version["__version__"]
 
 setup(
 	name="LoopStructural",
@@ -47,7 +41,7 @@ def get_version(rel_path):
 	'tqdm',
 	# 'pyamg'
 	],
-	version=get_version("LoopStructural/__init__.py"),
+	version=version,
     packages=find_packages(),
 	ext_modules=cythonize("LoopStructural/interpolators/cython/*.pyx",compiler_directives={"language_level": "3"}),
 	include_dirs=[numpy.get_include()],